Dhurandhar 2 mediation fails: Why Rajiv Rai is suing over ‘Oye Oye’; and debate over a 1989 contract

“They have mutilated ‘Oye Oye’, and the young producer feigns innocence. They have crossed the line. Where is their conscience? My lawyer said (the case) becomes too ambiguous (due to the contract). But where have I given permission to mutilate my song?,” Rai told Mid-Day earlier, calling the makers of Dhurandhar 2 “thieves”.

However, last month, Delhi High Court asked Rai not to speak on the case to the media since the matter was still  subjudice. The court also asked the parties to enter into mediation. However, a month later, the court was informed that the mediation has failed. It’s now stated that the next hearing will take place this Friday on May 8, as per Bar and Bench.

Why is the case ‘too ambiguous’?

As per the makers of Dhurandhar 2, their official music label holds the rights of the songs from Tridev. As a result, they claim they’re liable to use and remix the song for their film. It’s not the first song T-Series has remixed. Previous instances include “Dilbar” for Tum Se (1999) for Satyamev Jayate (2018), “Aankh Marey” from Tere Mere Sapne (1996) for Simmba (2018), “Ek Do Teen” from Tezaab (1988) for Baaghi 2 (2018), and “Hawa Hawaii” from Mr. India (1987) for Tumhari Sulu (2017) among several others.

However, Trimurti Films’ argument is that while it did sell the distribution rights of the music of Tridev to T-Series, that doesn’t include changing the song and its visuals in service of another film. Original artists like lyricist Anand Bakshi, music composers Kalyanji-Anandji, and singers Amit Kumar and Sapna Mukherjee have been credited in the Dhurandhar 2 version too, but the complete rehashing of the song doesn’t sit well with the makers.

Another contention with claiming that the music rights rest with T-Series, with no explicit barring from reproducing it for films like Dhurandhar 2, is that the concept of remixing songs wasn’t that prominent in the 1980s. Thus, the producer couldn’t have insisted on adding a clause about not reproducing the songs as the concept itself didn’t exist as prominently back then.

How Dhurandhar makers used rest of the songs

The first part, Dhurandhar, benefitted immensely from Saregama Music being its official music partner. Saregama boasts of a massive catalogue consisting of songs old and new, which probably allowed the makers to reproduce tracks like “Na To Caravan Ki Talash Hai” from Barsaat Ki Raat (1960) as “Ishq Jalakar” and “Na De Dil Pardesi Nu (Jogi)” from the 1995 album Muhammad Sadiq And Ranjit Kaur Da Akhada as “Jogi”, and “Ramba Ho” as Madhumati Bagchi’s recreated version.

Besides the soundtrack, Dhurandhar also used some old gems as part of its background score. For instance, for the entry scene of Sanjay Dutt’s character SP Chaudhary Aslam, composer Shashwat Sachdev borrowed “Hawa Hawa”. Though the popular Pakistani song has been recreated in Indian films multiple times without authorization, singer-composer Hassan Jahangir confirmed he was paid $50,000 (Rs 47.25 lakh) as compensation.

However, with its sequel, the makers opted for T-Series instead of Saregama as their official music partner. They roped in original singers, Bombay Rockers, to recreate “Aari Aari” with Shashwat, singer Jasmine Sandlas, and rappers Reble and Token. They also recreated Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s 1977 qawwali “Dil Pe Zakham Khate Hain” for the film. T-Series has previously recreated Khan’s popular ghazals like “Mere Rashke Qamar” for Baadshaho (2017), “Dekhte Dekhte” for Batti Gul Meter Chalu (2018), Sanu Ek Pal Chain for Raid (2018), and “Ye Jo Halka Halka Suroor” for Fanney Khan (2018).

Rajiv Rai’s earlier objection to ‘Saat Samundar Paar’

“Rang De Lal (Oye Oye)” isn’t the first recreation from his films’ music that Rajiv Rai has objected to. Last year, he also sued Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions and Saregama Music for recreating the iconic song “Saat Samundar Paar” from his 1992 action thriller Vishwatma in Sameer Vidhwans’ romantic comedy Tu Meri Main Tera Main Tera Tu Meri.

The court refused to put an injunction on the film’s release (due that week on December 25, 2025) owing to the huge financial investment gone into the movie. However, no outcome has come from the case yet, even though the film has released on OTT, on Prime Video India on February 19, 2026.

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As the next hearing in the Trimurti Films vs B62 Studios and Super Cassettes Pvt. Ltd. case is slated for May 8, it’s only less than a week before Dhurandhar 2’s expected OTT release date on JioHotstar on May 14, eight weeks after its theatrical release on March 19. Given the ambiguity of the case, it’s not likely that a verdict will be reached in such a limited time before Dhurandhar 2 is available on streaming.